The role of parents and the community can not e overemphasized in the education of a child. This is informed by the fact that there are innumerable factors that contribute to the effective education of a child that transcends the school environment or what the school can offer. Thus, in order to achieve a proper education for these children, parents and the community have to be incorporated into the learning process. The educational system has realized that the battle against illiteracy is a radical battle and all hands must be on deck to facilitate learning.
As much as it is hard to swallow, the fact is that the school system can not be solely left with the responsibility of training the child. Education is a collective responsibility – a responsibility of the school, the parents and the community. As a professional educator, I have discovered that all students have the ability to learn, given the right tutoring and guidance. Not that I am saying that all students are equal in their abilities but what I am saying is that any student can perform averagely well if the right methods are used and such a student is guided properly. This is where the role of the parents and society comes in.
As an educator, I believe so much in a platform where parents would be involved in the learning process. This enables a cooperative environment which in the long run benefits both the parents, the students and the community at large. One activity/program that I would like to introduce is a forum of parents and teachers. This is a platform where teachers report to parents about the progress of their lads and how they can come in. In this activity, parents are briefed on the progress of their children and the teacher offers advice on how they come in ensuring that these students are tutored at home.
It might be a sort of encouragement or an approach that will create an environment that is challenging for their children. After they might have done this, they are to take notes on how the children respond to these approaches and study their children for traces of change in their attitude towards learning. There would be a sort of forum once a month where the parents bring the feedback to the teachers. After proper assessment, the teacher can identify whether there needs to be a change in the approach being used or to improve on the current approach.
After this has been done, there would be a sort of lecture that would be given by invited counselors who are experts on human behavior and attitudinal changes. Furthermore, this program would encourage parents to volunteer for the different programs in the school. This might range from activities like extra tutoring to other co-curricular activities and workshops that would be organized by the school. Apart from this, there would be a speech giving day and a career day to be attended by the parents.
In the speech giving day, students would be assigned topics to talk on and they would be asked to deliver their speech in the presence of their parents. On the other hand, parents would be called on to talk on career opportunities in their various fields and to talk on how what they are learning presently influence what the students would be later I life. There would also be opportunity for organizations to advice the students on how to conduct themselves in the society and the importance of education in becoming who they want to be in the society.
Award and gifts would also be given to students based on their performances in class. There would also be a monthly excursion to places that and organizations that are reputable in the community. This might be a visit to the popular community hospital, a day out to the district court or to the neighborhood business establishment. This is intended to create a visual effect on the students and encourage them to devote more time to their studies. Summarily, if we say we want these students to be educated and become influential people in the society, then we must not be slack but be ready to give our best to them.
